Idaho: Lakes, Forests, and Macaroni & Cheese Soup, Oh My!

We spent two days roaming around Spokane before we headed over into Idaho. After we checked out of the hotel though we did some errands – like trying to find sweet smoked salmon for my dad, going to the mall, and visiting the Spokane Indians stadium. For breakfast I wanted to check out a local donut shop in Spokane called Donut Parade.

I kinda dug this whole “we don’t care how pretty the donuts look on the trays” kind of thing.

What I really came here for was a donut called the “Flatliner”. I didn’t see any in the case and the lady behind the counter said she could make them. Too bad I didn’t notice the “Fender” – maple with peanut butter – I would have tried that, too!

They don’t just have donuts here at the Donut Parade! They also have breakfast items (biscuits & gravy!) as well as lunch items.

There was a pretty old school diner-like vibe in here that I really dug.

We just got donuts to share between the four of us. Ordering a dozen donuts here will actually net you 14 donuts for $12. We didn’t want or need a “dozen”. Here’s our donut haul:

The lemon bar was split in half and filled with lemon so it had a TON of lemon flavor. The powder raspberry was a messy donut but it had a great filling. The kids liked their choices (which I believe were the Devil’s Food and Maple with Nuts – I didn’t try either). The Maple Cinnamon Crumb had a good flavor as well. What I noticed the most was how fresh the donuts tasted!

Now for the one I came to the Donut Parade for… The Flatliner! This donut was made fresh – you can see the glaze is still a little runny!

I know this probably looks strange and you’re wondering if you’d even like this thing. I mean… sausage and bacon in a sweet donut?!

The savory and sweetness of this Flatliner donut really worked for me. The donut was fresh and soft, the maple glaze was sweet and contrasted really well with the crunchy bacon and sausage. The sausage that’s stuffed inside is room temperature – not hot. It just had this amazing combination of salty sweet encased in a lovely raised donut. It was amazeballs!

Here’s what I knew about Idaho before actually visiting Idaho: they grew potatoes. I think that’s about all people know about Idaho, really. But from our experience they seemed to be way more into huckleberries than potatoes! Maybe you’ll see more potato things when traveling in the southern part of Idaho but we were up in the northern skinny part of the state.

We visited the Museum of North Idaho because… well, why the hell not. Mostly they talked about the railroad, the Native Americans that lived in the area, and lots of stuff about mining.

We walked over to check out part of Lake Coeur d’Alene as well. This is a pretty touristy area of northern Idaho. The lake is where a lot of families come in the summertime. Lake Coeur d’Alene spans 25 miles and ranges in width from 1 to 3 miles.

They had a seaplane sitting at the end of this dock!

Heh heh. A photo of a photo being taken.

In the little area we were in there were steps that led down into the lake. People we were swimming back and forth in the lake wearing swimsuits. It was a very peaceful area.

For lunch we headed to a place called Meltz Extreme Grilled Cheese.

It was located in Coeur d’Alene not too far from the lake. It was in a strip mall next to a gas station.

Menu!

It was hard to decide what to get… there were so many delicious sounding choices!

Jake and I chose to share the Potsticker Meltz. There was a little note that this sandwich was a “National Grilled Cheese Invitational Winner” and well… it sounded hella good and very unique! The sandwich is filled to the brim with ingredients that you’d find in a potsticker mixed in with the melted cheeses.

The most surprising (and delicious) thing were the crispy fried wontons in the sandwich! It had a really nice flavor to the sandwich – that mix of ginger, garlic, and soy really emphasized the “potsticker” flavors and worked really well with the melted cheeses. The bread was crisped perfectly making the bread able to stand up to the ingredients inside without falling apart. The cheese acted like the “glue” to keep everything together. To top it all off you had a potsticker dipping sauce that intensified the flavors and took the sandwich to a whole other level! It was a truly flavorful and extremely unique sandwich!

In addition to their amazing grilled cheeses, Meltz also makes their own potato chips in house with their own special seasoning. These are intensely flavored chips!

[macaroni and cheese soup / cup – $2.95 and a side of caesar salad / $3.95]

My favorite thing though, hands down, was this soup.

A macaroni and cheese soup. SOUP! I saw this on the menu and my mind just about exploded with wonder. I figured we should try the soup rather than actual macaroni and cheese since I had never seen macaroni and cheese soup before. And by god… it was amazing!

It had a similar flavor to macaroni and cheese but with less noodles and a little bit thinner. You can see a few noodles in the spoon in the photo above. You would once in awhile get a few noodles to chew on but mostly it was a cheesy bath that was going into your mouth. The soup is made with just sharp cheddar and other seasonings. It was smooth, creamy, and almost like a “stew” with the thickness of the soup.

This was hands down my favorite thing that I ate on our trip.

We also got cookies! I don’t think we ate these until later since we got pretty full from our lunch. There’s a lemon cookie on the left, a white chocolate macadamia on top, and a chocolate chip cookie on the right. These were all HUGE cookies that tasted nice and fresh.

We had a little time to kill before our check-in time for our Airbnb so we drove around Lake Coeur d’Alene a little bit. We followed a road that took us up and above the lake where I snapped this photo. We were in the thick of the Coeur d’Alene National Forest!

Driving further into Idaho, Jake took us off the highway to do a little exploring. We found some pretty bridges over a few rivers.

I just loved the colors in the river here. The scenery was truly stunning and the air smelled like pine trees.

Jake drove us down this dirt road surrounded by pretty trees.

And we came to see another bridge.

I could hardly get over just how GREEN it was here! Beautiful trees and landscapes everywhere. It felt so relaxing.

On the way back to the freeway we passed by this closed down restaurant. I would have totally eaten a meal here.

We made it to our Airbnb which was located in a little ski town called Kellogg, ID. The population this city is about 2,100 people total! It sits at the base of the mountain. There’s a 3 mile long gondola ride that will take you up the mountain. In the summer it runs only on the weekends. The main street of town was under renovation while we were here.

Down one of the streets in Kellogg we found this metal sculpture of a knight fighting a dragon. It really endeared me to this little town. Jake said that Kellogg reminded him a lot of Park City, Utah where he spent a few years of his childhood. We decided to cook dinner at “home” in the Airbnb that evening and just enjoy a little rest and relaxation. One more Idaho travel post to come soon!

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Author: Mary

Mary is a San Diego native and has been a food blogger for 11+ years. She is an avid reader, a lover of puppies, and loves trying new food. Foods she loves: sweets, peanut butter, pasta, Triscuit crackers with cream cheese, and extra nuts on top of her sundaes. Food she dislikes: pickles, really spicy food, runny eggs, olives, and too much arugula.